NAD+

NAD+ research compound in Thailand

NAD+ (β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme, not a peptide — a small nucleotide cofactor that every cell uses to carry electrons through redox reactions, and that a second set of enzymes consumes outright: sirtuins, PARPs, and CD38. That dual role is why it turns up in energy-metabolism, DNA-repair, and ageing research rather than in the receptor-signalling literature that surrounds most peptides.

This listing is for laboratory research use only. One honest caveat sits over the whole field: most human data concerns NAD+ precursors — nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) — not direct NAD+ administration.

Quick facts

Product

β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)

CAS

53-84-9

Molecular weight

~663.4 g/mol (free acid)

Key enzymes

Sirtuins (SIRT1–7), PARP1/2, CD38, NAMPT (salvage pathway)

Intended use

Laboratory research use only

How NAD+ works

NAD+ cycles between its oxidised (NAD+) and reduced (NADH) forms as the electron shuttle of glycolysis, the TCA cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. In that role it is regenerated, not consumed. The research interest comes from the other role: sirtuins cleave NAD+ to power protein deacetylation, PARP enzymes consume it in bursts while repairing DNA strand breaks, and the ectoenzyme CD38 degrades it. Because these reactions destroy the molecule, the cell must continually rebuild it — mainly through the NAMPT salvage pathway that recycles nicotinamide.

The central hypothesis in the ageing literature is that this balance tips with age: consumption (rising PARP and CD38 activity) outpaces salvage, tissue NAD+ falls, and sirtuin-dependent processes lose their substrate. Gomes and colleagues showed in mice that declining nuclear NAD+ disrupts communication between the nucleus and mitochondria via a SIRT1–HIF-1α axis, producing a pseudohypoxic state (Cell, 2013). The field is genuinely contested — the same researchers who established much of the precursor pharmacology, notably Charles Brenner, have publicly argued that the longevity claims built on this biology run well ahead of the human evidence.

Key research findings

• In mice and humans, oral nicotinamide riboside raised blood NAD+ metabolites in a dose-dependent way, establishing NR as an orally bioavailable NAD+ precursor and providing the first human pharmacokinetics for the pathway (Trammell, Nat Commun, 2016).
• A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy middle-aged and older adults found chronic NR supplementation was well tolerated and effectively stimulated NAD+ metabolism, though the clinical readouts were exploratory (Martens, Nat Commun, 2018).
• In a randomised placebo-controlled trial in prediabetic women, 10 weeks of NMN increased muscle insulin sensitivity and muscle remodelling gene expression, without changes in body composition or tissue NAD+ measured in whole muscle (Yoshino, Science, 2021).

Research applications

• Mitochondrial bioenergetics and redox-ratio (NAD+/NADH) assays
• Sirtuin activation and protein-deacetylation studies
• DNA-damage response and PARP-activity models
• Cellular senescence and ageing-biology research
• Comparative work against NAD+ precursors (NR, NMN) and NAMPT modulation
• Metabolic-dysfunction models: insulin sensitivity, hepatic and skeletal-muscle metabolism

Dosing in the literature

Human trials in this field almost always dose a precursor rather than NAD+ itself — NR at 250–1000 mg/day (Martens, 2018) or NMN at 250 mg/day (Yoshino, 2021) — because intact NAD+ is poorly cell-permeant and is degraded extracellularly. This is a summary of parameters as reported in the literature, not administration guidance. To model concentrations for a defined protocol, use the NAD+ peptide calculator.

Reconstitution & storage

Solvent

Bacteriostatic water or sterile water, per the protocol for the exact material

Mixing

Add solvent down the vial wall and swirl gently until dissolved; do not shake

Stability note

NAD+ hydrolyses in solution and is markedly less stable at alkaline pH than lyophilised peptides

Storage

Refrigerated (2–8 °C) after reconstitution, in common laboratory practice

Use within

A short window once in solution — prepare fresh where the protocol allows

Freeze / light

Keep the lyophilised powder frozen or cold, sealed, and protected from light

General handling follows the same pattern as lyophilised research peptides, but NAD+ is a cofactor, not a peptide, so solvent choice and in-solution stability should come from a protocol written for this material. In Thailand's heat and humidity, minimise time at ambient temperature during storage and courier handling.

Selected research

• Declining NAD+ induces a pseudohypoxic state disrupting nuclear-mitochondrial communication during aging — Cell, 2013
• Nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans — Nat Commun, 2016
• Nicotinamide riboside augments the aged human skeletal muscle NAD+ metabolome and induces transcriptomic and anti-inflammatory signatures — Cell Rep, 2019
• NAD+ metabolism and its roles in cellular processes during ageing — Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 2021 (review)
• Browse all indexed NAD+ metabolism and ageing literature on PubMed

Related compounds

• MOTS-c — a mitochondrial-derived peptide studied in metabolic homeostasis and AMPK signalling; frequently examined alongside NAD+ biology in mitochondrial-stress research.
• SS-31 — a mitochondria-targeting peptide studied for cardiolipin binding and electron-transport efficiency, approaching mitochondrial function from a structural rather than cofactor angle.
• Bacteriostatic water — the standard diluent used to reconstitute lyophilised research vials.

See also: mitochondrial research compounds and more mitochondrial and cellular research compounds.

NAD+ FAQ

Compliance note

NAD+ is supplied for laboratory research use only. It is not for human or veterinary use, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All findings referenced above are the results of specific published studies, not claims about this product.